Google falling short of climate target

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French nuclear giant scraps SMR plans due to soaring costs, will start over

The French nuclear giant EdF, the government owned company that manages the country’s vast fleet of nuclear power stations, has reportedly scrapped its plans to develop a new design for small nuclear reactors because of […]

New Florida windmill ban law goes into effect along with language removing “climate change”

TAMPA, Fla. — The state of Florida currently has zero windmills operating on land or offshore, and some Republican legislators want to keep it that way. In May, Gov. DeSantis signed HB 1645 into law, going into […]

EU Commission clears Romania’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors

The European Commission has issued a positive opinion on the technical and nuclear safety aspects of the project for units 3 and 4 of Romania’s only nuclear power plant, the Romanian Energy Ministry announced on […]

Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030. But a report […]

“Electric vehicles not cost-effective for emissions reduction”

Electric vehicles are not cost-effective for emissions reduction. That’s the suggestion from Nick Molden, Chief Executive Officer of Emissions Analytics Ltd who spoke at the Coventry Building Society Arena during the inaugural day of The […]

Oil Prices Rise As EIA Confirms Huge Crude Draw

Crude oil prices moved higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an inventory decline of 12.2 million barrels for the week to June 28. The inventory change compared with an inventory build of 3.6 million barrels estimated […

Highlights of the Podcast

00:00 – Intro

01:36 – French nuclear giant scraps SMR plans due to soaring costs, will start over

04:08 –  Florida windmill ban law goes into effect along with language removing “climate change”

06:24 – EU Commission clears Romania’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors

07:24 – Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

09:05 – “Electric vehicles not cost-effective for emissions reduction”

10:29 – Oil Prices Rise As EIA Confirms Huge Crude Draw

12:35 – Outro

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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Stuart Turley: [00:00:14] Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Energy News. Be daily stand up. Today is July 4th. I hope you’re having an absolutely wonderful day out there. Keep your fingers and toes away from them firecrackers. But let’s celebrate the independence of the United States. Let’s hope we have another 200 years left in us here. So anyway, with that, let’s get with our top stories here. French nuclear giant scraps smart plans due to soaring costs. They’ll start over. Holy smokes. Florida with a new windmill ban. Law goes into effect today along with language removing climate change. Very important when you take a look at this. EU Commission clears Romania plans to build two new nuclear reactors. We’re seeing this all around the world. Here’s the next article. Google falling short of an important climate target sites electricity needs of I. Oops. Let’s go to the next article. Electric vehicles not cost effective for emissions reduction. Wow, this is pretty important. I think this is great. There’s somebody finally stepping up and putting the numbers together. Oil rises as EIA confirms huge crude draw. We’ll go through some of those numbers here in a second. [00:01:36][81.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:01:36] Let’s go ahead and get started here with the French nuclear giant scraps smart plans due to soaring costs. And they’ll start over. The French nuclear giant EDF is a government owned agency that manages the country’s vast fleet of nuclear power stations, is reportedly scrapped its plans to develop a new design for small nuclear reactors because of fears of soaring costs. This is pretty important because nuclear is. France was always the poster child of what to do for nuclear. And then they had the anti-nuclear folks stop and really stop investing in their maintenance. So they have about 50 ballpark ish nuclear reactors. They are running at 25% because of the maintenance that needs to be done on these. The EDF plans to, have run into similar problems with its potential customers, the European energy companies Vattenfall, Kedzie and Fortum warning guidelines that the smears would not have a levelized cost of energy, more than €100 a megawatt hour or 161 megawatt per hour, and EDF decided that was not possible. So when you sit back and take a look at some small modular nuclear reactors, they are going to be incredibly important. And much like my conversation with the CEO of Copenhagen Atomics. The small modular reactors have to be built in and rolled out in a cost effective manner. So I applaud them for holding this up. And overwhelmingly, majority of aged 18 to 54 through Peter Denning’s nuclear energy plan is just an attempt to extend the life of gas and limit investment in large scale renewables. While a majority of those 55 thought the nuclear plant is serious and should be part of the future energy mix. That is some significant numbers because we need nuclear for baseload. If you want wind and solar, that’s fine, but they cannot provide baseload. And as Michael Tanner and I talked about, when we start having some serious grid problems, it’s because the AI, the big tech and the data centers are going to be taking the nuclear energy and then leaving the grid to fend for renewables, which is intermittent, and that’s going to be rolling blackouts. So anyway, I thought this was an excellent article. [00:04:07][151.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:04:08] Let’s roll the floor. I want to give governor DeSantis ahead. Just and a hand here. New Florida windmill ban goes into effect along with language removing climate change. Needless to say, the Wind Kellys Pensacola factory creates financing for wind turbines. And it’s the house housing. And they’re pretty upset about this. But when you take a look at what this actually is doing is they’re realizing that wind is intermittent and they are putting more into natural gas. So what does it tell Floridians about the state feel for the environment, climate change and hurricane storms? She ask? Well, I think it signals that we don’t believe in science, windmills or something that was put in there. Probably more to get attention than some of the things reversing some of the proactive climate legislation that we had in the long run. I think we’re going to be more damaging to our state. I disagree with her wholeheartedly, but if you look at the graphic that I. Governor DeSantis put out, and hats off to governor DeSantis. He’s got a great producer. If you can slide in the graphic on the Twitter feed here. Florida says no and goes through all of these. He signed in the Senate bill, HB 7071. And it really does, I think, do a good job. And it’s more about putting in stable natural gas plants. And according to meet the Biden administration EPA records, those natural gas plants have to be able to have hydrogen. Here’s a quote. Our state is 75% dependent on natural gas right now. So those prices where the is the validity. So no it doesn’t make sense. So we’re concerned about stability. We’re going to be investing in things other than what we’d be dependent on. The cost of natural gas gets passed on to the consumers when working families can’t afford additional increases as we continue to move forward. So natural gas is as cheap as it gets for being able to support the grid. Nuclear is preferred. Natural gas is second and then wind and solar follow on on after that. So. [00:06:24][136.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:24] Let’s go to the next one here. EU Commission clears Romania plans to build two new nuclear reactors. This is really, really cool. The energy Minister, Sebastien Berdahl I believe, is how you pronounce his name. The two said the two new reactors are expected to make an essential contribution to the national and regional energy security by producing clean, zero emission energy. I think this is absolutely phenomenal. With four nuclear units soon to be operating, Romania is expected to avoid 20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and create more than 19,000 jobs in related industries. That paragraph is critical because nuclear power, clean, stable power equals economic growth and manufacturing stability, and that you can export this energy. Hat’s off to them. [00:07:23][58.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:24] Let’s talk about Google. Let’s roll over to Google. I’m not a Google fan. Just thought I’d share that with you. Google falling short of importance on climate target sites. Electricity needs of AI. Google has gone woke. If you’re not aware, three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going to net zero, meaning it would release no more climate changing gases in the year removed by 2030. Here’s where I find them. Very hypocrisy. They said that they were. I remember seeing on Chrome where they were carbon neutral since 2003 or whatever the day was on there, and that was lying. So you can be a hypocrite and a liar and still be big tech. But rather than declining its emissions, emissions grew in 13% in 2023 over the year compared to the baseline of 2019. Emissions have soared 48%. Google cited the artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centers, which requires massive amounts of electricity for last year’s growth. This is a great article, and it really elevates the fact that the data centers and big tech are going to have microgrids, and the consumer grids are going to be left bare. We are going to need very good Department of Energy management of the grid and not incompetent buffoons that are running our, Department of Energy right now. We need an upgrade to the Department of Energy in order to keep the grid rolling. Did I just say that? I was just kidding? No. I’m not. [00:09:05][101.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:05] Electric vehicles cost effective for emissions reduction. I absolutely love this one. This is from. The article was originally posted on Energy Live News. And this is Nick Molden, chief executive officer of Emissions Analytics Lead Limited, who spoke at the Coventry Building Society Arena during the inaugural day of the Big Zero Show. How can we actually achieve net zero transport, not just officially explored the challenges of decarbonization in the transit transportation sector? Absolutely. I would love to see this entire presentation. In fact, Nick, if you are listening to the podcast, I would love to have you as a guest in and would want to talk to you about this. There’s a growing gap between public perception and the actual impact of electric vehicles. If you think specifically about the penetration of electric passenger vehicles, sales of them are slowing stalling in their softening, in their softening, not because of misinformation. There’s a little bit. Bit about that. But fundamentally they’re softening because they’re not a cost effective way of reducing emissions. Wow. This is really cool. I really want to find out more about his reports and things that he has going on. So again, a shout out and his information will be in the show notes here. [00:10:29][83.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:10:29] So with our last story here, oil prices rise as the EIA confirms a huge crude draw as we are recording this. Let’s take a look at the prices real quick. We are at 8374 at the time. I’m recording this for WTI and Brant is 8622. And net gas is $2.45. If you are looking to buy and sell crude or any other jet fuel or anything else, please go to Energy News Beat.com/trading desk and reach out. We do have some great sources and information on that as well too. So let’s roll to oil. Prices moved higher today as the U.S. Energy information, reported an inventory decline of 12.2 million barrels for the week of June 28th. The inventory compared to an inventory build of 3.6 the previous week, where the EIA also saw fuel inventories rise. Gasoline inventories shed 2.2 million barrels in the week to June 28th, which compared to the build of the 2.7 million for the previous week. Gasoline production averaged 10.1 million barrels daily last week, compared to the 9.9 million barrels the previous week. So some of the maintenance and had to have been come off light, come back online. The key risk for oil markets is that Israel Hezbollah war widens into a broader conflict, said the Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dar told Bloomberg. In particular, the more the particular involvement of Iran and IRA Israel Hezbollah war may put Iran, Iran’s oil supply and related infrastructure pretty crazy. I don’t and when we have other oil price articles that have come out saying that OPEC still will not be able to control the production quotas or their members. I don’t know how you price this out in a in a normal way,. [00:12:35][125.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:12:35] So please like subscribe. Check out the Energy News Beat.substack.com, the Energy News, beats.Substack, dot com energy, Newsbeat.Co or energy. Newsbeat.com and reach out to us. Michael and I absolutely love all of our fans and all of the great feedback that we get. Have a great day and I hope you have an absolutely wonderful holiday with your family. Thanks. [00:12:35][0.0][738.1]

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The post Google falling short of climate target appeared first on Energy News Beat.

 

Oil Prices Rise As EIA Confirms Huge Crude Draw

Energy News Beat

Crude oil prices moved higher today after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an inventory decline of 12.2 million barrels for the week to June 28.

The inventory change compared with an inventory build of 3.6 million barrels estimated for the previous week, when the EIA also saw fuel inventories rising, which weighed on oil prices.

For the last week of June, the EIA estimated draws in fuel inventories.

Gasoline inventories shed 2.2 million barrels in the week to June 28, which compared with a build of 2.7 million barrels for the previous week.

Gasoline production averaged 10.1 million barrels daily last week, compared with 9.9 million barrels daily for the previous week.

In middle distillates, the EIA estimated an inventory decline of 1.5 million barrels for the last week of June, which compared with a modest draw of 400,000 barrels for the previous week.

Middle distillate production averaged 5.1 million barrels daily in the last week of June, which compared with 4.9 million barrels daily for the previous week.

Oil prices, meanwhile, remained at two-month highs after the American Petroleum Institute estimated a weekly inventory draw, pegging it at a significant 9 million barrels.

Prices have also received support from geopolitical factors this week, as traders worry about a further escalation of violence in the Middle East as Israel continues to bomb Gaza. On the other hand, fears of production disruption in the Gulf of Mexico because of Hurricane Beryl subsided after the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm.

“The key risk for oil markets is that an Israel?Hezbollah war widens into a broader conflict,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar told Bloomberg. “In particular, the more direct involvement of Iran in an Israel?Hezbollah war may put at risk Iran’s oil supply and related infrastructure.”

In addition to geopolitical factors, signs are emerging of a slowdown in U.S. oil production growth and the latest oil export data has revealed Saudi Arabia accounted for half of a global oil export decline that amounted to 1 million barrels daily last month.

Source: Oilprice.com

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Google falling short of important climate target, cites electricity needs of AI

Energy News Beat

Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030.

But a report from the company Tuesday shows it is nowhere near meeting that goal.

Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48%.

Google cited artificial intelligence and the demand it puts on data centers, which require massive amounts of electricity, for last year’s growth.

Making that electricity by burning coal or natural gas emits greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide and methane, which warm the planet, bringing more extreme weather.

The company has one of the most significant climate commitments in industry and has been seen as a leader.

Lisa Sachs, director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, said Google should be doing more to partner with cleaner companies and invest in the electrical grid.

“The reality is that we are far behind what we could already be doing now with the technology that we have, with the resources that we have, in terms of advancing the transition,” she said.

Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt told The Associated Press, “Reaching this net zero goal by 2030, this is an extremely ambitious goal.

“We know this is not going to be easy and that our approach will need to continue to evolve,” Brandt added, “and it will require us to navigate a lot of uncertainty, including this uncertainty around the future of AI’s environmental impacts.”

Some experts say the rapidly expanding data centers needed to power AI threaten the entire transition to clean electricity, an important part of addressing climate change. That’s because a new data center can delay the closure of a power plant that burns fossil fuel or prompt a new one to be built. Data centers are not only energy-intensive, they require high voltage transmission lines and need significant amounts of water to stay cool. They are also noisy.

They often are built where electricity is cheapest, not where renewables, such as wind and solar, are a key source of energy.

Global data center and AI electricity demand could double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency.

Other major tech company sustainability plans are also challenged by the proliferation of data centers. They caused Microsoft’s emissions to grow 29% above its 2020 baseline, the company said in an environmental sustainability report in May.

Tech companies make the case that AI, including tools such as ChatGPT, is not only partially causing climate change, it’s also helping to address it.

In the case of Google, that could mean using data to predict future flooding, or making traffic flow more efficiently, to save gasoline.

Amanda Smith, senior scientist at the climate nonprofit Project Drawdown, said those who use AI — both large companies and individuals just making memes — need to do so responsibly, meaning using the energy only when it benefits society.

“It’s up to us as humans to watch what we’re doing with it and to question why we’re doing that,” Smith added. “When it’s worth it, we can make sure that those demands are going to be met by clean sources of power.”

Google’s emissions grew last year in part because the company used more energy; 25,910 gigawatt-hours more, an increase from the year before and more than double the hours of energy consumed just four years earlier. A gigawatt-hour is roughly the energy that a power plant serving several hundred thousand households puts out in one hour.

On the positive side, as Google’s consumption grows, so has its use of renewable power.

The company said in 2020 it would meet its massive need for electricity using only clean energy every hour of every day by 2030, all over the world. Last year, Google says, it saw an average of 64% carbon-free energy for its data centers and offices around the globe. The company says its data centers are, on average, 1.8 times as energy efficient as others in the industry.

Sachs, at Columbia University, credited Google for its ambition and honesty, but said she hopes “that Google would join us in a more rigorous conversation about how to accelerate” clean energy amid the climate crisis, “so that it doesn’t get much worse before it starts getting better.”

Source: Apnews.com

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EU Commission clears Romania’s plans to build two new nuclear reactors

Energy News Beat

The European Commission has issued a positive opinion on the technical and nuclear safety aspects of the project for units 3 and 4 of Romania’s only nuclear power plant, the Romanian Energy Ministry announced on Tuesday.

With the Commission’s green light, the plant, managed by the country’s sole nuclear power producer, the state-owned Nuclear Electric Company, and located in the southeastern town of Cernavodă, will receive two additional CANDU reactors.

Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja said on Tuesday that the two new reactors are expected to “make an essential contribution to national and regional energy security by producing clean, zero-emission energy.”

The Commission’s opinion confirms that the project is in line with the objectives of the Euratom Treaty, which requires nuclear developers to notify the Commission in advance of investment projects and demonstrate compliance with the highest nuclear safety standards. It also contains several recommendations typical of such projects.

With four nuclear units soon to be operating, Romania is expected to avoid 20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year and create more than 19,000 jobs in related industries.

Once the two units come on stream, Romania’s electricity mix will change significantly, with nuclear power expected to account for around 30% of the country’s electricity production over the next decade, up from about 20%, the Nuclear Electric Company added.

Source: Euractiv.com

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Green New Scam Is Dying

Energy News Beat

It’s no secret that the vast majority of the so-called elites are advocates of climate alarmism and are taken in by the Green New Scam.

Whether this preference is based on ignorance of the science, ideological zeal, a willful desire to hurt American growth or simple greed because of their investments in Green New Scam infrastructure varies case by case.

The typical upper-income supporter of the climate cult including academics, media figures and celebrities is probably ignorant of the fact that there is no evidence that CO2 emissions cause climate change and that the real causes are solar cycles, volcanoes, ocean currents and atmospheric moisture not caused by humans.

Climate Alarmists Have It Backward

The historical record actually demonstrates that warming periods produce higher CO2 levels — not the other way around. CO2 doesn’t cause warming. It’s caused by natural warming.

In other words, climate alarmists have causation completely backward.

Climate alarmism is based almost entirely on computer models, which depend on the inputs the modelers themselves build into them. A model is only as good as the inputs and assumptions programmed into it.

Virtually every one of these models has overestimated warming, sometimes by orders of magnitude, because it’s based on faulty assumptions that overestimate the impact of CO2 on climate.

In other words, it’s junk science. But they keep relying on these models because their political agenda requires it.

Climate: The New Communism

There’s no doubt that a fair number of neo-Marxists embrace the climate scam because they know it damages U.S. industry, raises costs to U.S. consumers and helps to undermine the U.S. economy.

Following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism, anti-capitalistic collectivists admitted that they needed to promote the climate agenda because the only way to combat global warming is through collective action. It requires a coordinated global effort that limits national sovereignty.

The neo-Marxists are impervious to evidence; they just want to hurt America and wasting money on windmills instead of building new refineries is a good way to do it. That leaves the greed crowd.

The Real “Green” in the Green Agenda

They’re early investors in windmills, solar modules, lithium car batteries, EVs, charging stations, carbon credits and other infrastructure of the climate scam. They stand to make billions of dollars off the narrative with help from extravagant government subsidies.

They don’t really care if it all collapses in the end (which it will) as long as they get rich at taxpayer expense in the meantime. All of this behavior is clear as far as it goes. What is not clear is the extent to which the Green New Scammers are doing this with your money.

The best example is multibillionaire Larry Fink, who runs the giant BlackRock investment fund. Fink has been aggressive in promoting the climate scam along with racial quotas, DEI and defunding police.

He’s entitled to his opinions. But is he entitled to pursue his radical agenda with pension fund money from conservative states and institutions? Fortunately, a backlash has begun against Fink and his fellow wokesters.

More state pension fund managers are beginning to pull their funds from BlackRock and other investment managers that pursue far-left policies not in the best interests of their beneficiaries. This backlash may not change Larry Fink’s lifestyle. But over time, it might change the world for the better.

The EV Sham

A major part of the climate agenda includes electric vehicles (EVs). I’ve been warning for years that EVs aren’t feasible as a transportation solution for more than relatively few Americans and that they are little more than glorified golf carts despite the $70,000-and-up price tags.

In the first place, EVs don’t cut carbon emissions. The car itself does not have emissions, but it’s charged with electricity from power plants that do.

The batteries are made with poisonous chemicals and metals including lithium, cobalt, copper and nickel that come from mining operations that use enormous amounts of water and electricity to extract the needed materials.

It takes thousands of tons of ore to extract enough critical minerals to make one battery. EVs don’t take a charge in extreme cold, and the batteries can’t hold a charge. Travel range is grossly overstated for many reasons, including the fact that EV car heaters drain the batteries (with internal-combustion engines, ICEs, the engine makes heat which can easily be directed into the car to keep passengers comfortable with no additional energy required).

Resale values of EVs are close to zero because buyers of used EVs have to shell out $25,000 or more for new batteries after the vehicle is about seven years old. The list of drawbacks goes on.

Most Americans have resisted EVs because they understand the disadvantages. But many Americans were drawn to the false promise of emission-free transportation and other ridiculous claims by the Green New Scammers. Now even the most committed EV buyers are waking up.

I Want My ICE Car Back

A new survey by consulting firm McKinsey and Co. shows that 29% of EV owners in nine major economies want to return to ICE vehicles. When the sample is narrowed to just the U.S., 46% of those surveyed want to return to ICEs.

The McKinsey officials who conducted the survey claim to be “surprised” by those results. That probably says something about the fact that McKinsey experts are just as deluded about EVs as the buyers surveyed.

When breaking down the results, 45% say EVs are too expensive, 33% say they have charging concerns and 29% are concerned about the limited driving range.

The truth is that the EV was invented in 1837 and reached the peak of its popularity in 1910 just before the mass production of internal-combustion cars by Henry Ford. The American public got it right when they flocked to the Model T.

It sounds like they’re getting it right again after a brief infatuation with the false promise of the EV. The bottom line is that the Green New Scam is falling apart.

It can’t happen soon enough.

Source: Dailyreckoning.com

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French nuclear giant scraps SMR plans due to soaring costs, will start over

Energy News Beat

The French nuclear giant EdF, the government owned company that manages the country’s vast fleet of nuclear power stations, has reportedly scrapped its plans to develop a new design for small nuclear reactors because of fears of soaring costs.

EdF, which is now fully government owned after facing potential bankruptcy due to delays and massive cost over-runs at its latest generation large scale nuclear plants, had reportedly been working on a new design for SMRs for the last four years.

The French investigative outlet L’Informé reported on Monday that EdF had scrapped its new internal SMR design – dubbed Nuward – because of engineering problems and cost overruns. It cited company sources as saying EdF would now partner with other companies to use “simpler” technologies in an attempt to avoid delays and budget overruns.

Reuters confirmed the development, citing an email from a company spokesman that confirmed the program had been abandoned after the basic design had been completed.

“The reorientation consists of developing a design built exclusively from proven technological bricks. It will offer better conditions for success by facilitating technical feasibility,” an EDF spokesperson told Reuters via email.

It’s the latest problem to hit SMR technology, which the federal Coalition wants to roll out in Australia – starting with reactors in South Australia and Western Australia – as part of its goal of keeping coal plants open, building more gas, stopping renewables and putting clean energy hopes on nuclear.

The federal Coalition says it can have the first SMR up and running by 2035, but no SMRs have been built in the western world, and none have even got a licence to be built.

The closest to reach that landmark, the US-based NuScale, abandoned its plans after massive cost overruns and push back from its customers, who refused to pay high prices.

The EdF plans appears to have run into similar problems. Its potential customers, the European energy companies Vattenfall, CEZ and Fortum, wanted guarantees that the SMRs would not have a levelised cost of energy of more than €100 a megawatt hour ($161/MWh) and EdF decided that that was not possible.

It is now not expected to produce its first SMR until the 2030s, at the earliest – even though France is desperate for new reactors to replace its ageing power plants. Because of the costs, it expects to significantly reduce the share of nuclear in its energy mix as it focuses more on large scale solar and offshore wind.

EdF has run into similar problems with its large scale technology. The Flammanville project in France was announced in 2004 with a budget of €3 billion and a deadline of 2012. It is still not in operation and its costs have soared at least four-fold to €13.2 billion.

The Hinkley C project in the UK has been an even bigger disaster. EdF had promised in 2007 that it would be “cooking Christmas turkeys” in England by 2017, at a cost of £9 billion, but is already delayed to 2031 with a spiralling cost of £48 billion when inflation is taken into account, or $A93 billion.

EdF announced another impairment charge of €12.9 billion ($A20.7 billion) from Hinkley earlier this year. It had to be bailed out by the government last year after suffering record losses in 2022 caused by outages at nearly half of its nuclear power plants due to maintenance at its reactors across France.

Tim Buckley, from Climate and Energy Finance, seized on the news and called on Opposition leader Peter Dutton and energy spokesman Ted O’Brien to provide more details of their nuclear plans beyond the one page press release they released last month.

“Come’on guys, how naive do you take the average Australian voter for?” Buckley wrote.

“In your alternate fact world, who do you think will pay for the permanent around 50% increase in Australian energy prices for consumers? Are you really intent on destroying the international competitiveness of Australian industry purely in the service of your fossil fuel funders?”

Numerous cost assessments, particularly by the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator, have put the cost of nuclear at more than double the cost of wind, solar and storage. But they also point out that first of their kind projects in Australia could cost double that amount, and SMR technology is likely to be even more expensive.

The Coalition has attacked those reports, and the reputation of the CSIRO and AEMO – in concert with a group of so-called “think tanks” and the Murdoch media – but the latest polling from Essential Media suggests that the public might not be buying it.

The poll found that votes believe renewables are the most desirable (59 per cent) and the best for the environment (55 per cent). Nuclear energy was regarded by more as the most expensive (38 per cent versus 35 per cent for renewables).

An overwhelming majority of people aged 18 to 54 thought Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy plan “is just an attempt to extend the life of gas and limit investment in large-scale renewables”, while a majority of those aged over 55 thought the nuclear plan is serious and should be part of the future energy mix, Essential Media’s Peter Lewis wrote.

The federal Coalition has argued that nuclear might be expensive to build, but will deliver cheaper power to consumers. It has not explained how, but it has said that its reactors would be government owned, suggesting that – like France and Ontario – the costs would be borne by taxpayers and the supply of power to customers would be heavily subsidised.

Source: Reneweconomy.com.au

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New Florida windmill ban law goes into effect along with language removing “climate change”

Energy News Beat

TAMPA, Fla. — The state of Florida currently has zero windmills operating on land or offshore, and some Republican legislators want to keep it that way.

In May, Gov. DeSantis signed HB 1645 into law, going into effect July 1.

According to the language of the law, it “Prohibits the construction or expansion of an offshore wind energy facility, including buildings, structures, vessels, and electrical transmission cables to the site. A wind turbine or wind energy facility within one mile of a coastline—defined as the mean high water line. A wind turbine or wind energy facility within one mile of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. A wind turbine or wind energy facility on state waters and submerged lands.”

Opponents of the new law tell ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska they are wondering why it is necessary.

“I just am perplexed at the strategy here, when it could mean a lot to Florida beyond what people think of as well, just put a turbine up,” Henry Kelley, President and co-founder of BlueWind Technology, told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska.

Kelley’s Pensacola factory creates nacelles for wind turbines. A nacelle is the protective housing for a wind turbine, similar to the housing around the motor of a floor fan.

Kelley told Paluska the company produced their first nacelle in 2020, and business has been booming ever since.

“I’m very proud of this. We’ve gone from zero employees to nearly 150. We see tremendous growth across the United States. You have a lot of jobs in Florida producing wind, and my concern when this bill was passed, as I expressed to the committees hearing the bill, is what message it sends for future growth and future research opportunities when you are outlawing projects that aren’t even on the drawing books,” Kelley said. “Everyone in politics talks about bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US. And this is precisely what I’m trying to do. I have 150 employees in my factory alone here in Pensacola.”

In February, Kelley testified before the Florida Senate in front of the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government.

We reached out multiple times toRepublican State Sen. Jay Collins in District 14, who sponsored the Senate version of the bill. But ABC Action News has yet to hear back.

At that same committee meeting, Collins said, “We’re doing this out of the belief that we need to protect our ecosystem animals and our tourism industry first.

Collins also posted a video on Instagram explaining why the law is necessary for Floridians.

The new law also aims to study small nuclear reactor technology, expand the use of hydrogen-powered vehicles, and enhance electric grid security.

But, it also removes several references to the word “climate change” and climate “friendly” products.

WFTS
WFTS

“There’s special interest in Tallahassee, they’re very powerful. And the oil and gas industry is one of those, you know, electric utilities are another one,” State Rep. Lindsay Cross, a Democrat in District 60, said.

“What does it tell Floridians about how the state feels about the environment, climate change, hurricanes, storms?” Paluska asked.

“I think, what it’s, what it signals is that we don’t believe in science,” Cross said. “Windmills are something that was put in here that probably got more attention than some of the things reversing some of the proactive climate legislation that we had, that in the long run, I think are gonna be more damaging for our state.”

Paluska reached out to Gov. DeSantis for comment. A spokesperson directed us to his social media posts.

Florida rejects the designs of the left to weaken our energy grid, pursue a radical climate agenda, and promote foreign adversaries. pic.twitter.com/Drydhd7XcH

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 15, 2024

The left’s climate agenda is not about affordability and reliability, nor ensuring the middle class can keep the lights on—and the media is admitting it in advocacy pieces like this one.

The “green” push is about regulating how far you can drive, what you eat, what kind of stove… pic.twitter.com/Uqo95Om0ii

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 17, 2024

Policy should focus on making energy affordable and reliable, not become captive to the ideological agenda of climate alarmism, which forces consumers to pay more for energy and increases the risks of blackouts. pic.twitter.com/h5NZd1q2nN

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 15, 2024

In a post on X, DeSantis wrote, “We’re restoring sanity in our approach to energy and rejecting the agenda of the radical green zealots.”

“Well, the reality is that the prices for natural gas, which were our state is 75%, dependent on natural gas right now. So those prices are where the volatility is, in reality. So no, it doesn’t make sense,” Kim Ross, the co-executive director for ReThink Energy Florida, said.

“Does it make sense that green energy isn’t stable enough for us to carry into the future?” Paluska asked Ross.

“Our state is 75% dependent on natural gas right now. So those prices are where the volatility is. So, no, it doesn’t make sense. Because if we’re concerned about stability, we’re going to be investing in things other than what we’re very dependent on right now. The cost of natural gas gets passed on to the consumers when working families just can’t afford additional increases as we continue to move forward.”

Source: Abcactionnews.com

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Peru LNG terminal sent four cargoes to Dutch Gate in June

Energy News Beat

Peru LNG’s liquefaction plant at Pampa Melchorita has shipped four liquefied natural gas cargoes to the Dutch Gate LNG import terminal in the port of Rotterdam in June, according to the shipment data by state-owned Perupetro.

The 174,000-cbm LNGShips Manhattan, which departed the 4.4 mtpa Peru LNG plant on May 31 and is one of the five tankers which left the facility last month, also recently delivered its cargo to the Gate terminal, its AIS data provided by VesselsValue shows.

As per the shipments in June, the 174,000-cbm Pan Americas, which departed the Peru LNG plant on June 10, is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on July 9, while the 173,400-cbm Valencia Knutsen, which left the Peru LNG plant on June 19, is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on July 13.

The 170,000-cbm Methane Becki Anne left the Peru LNG facility on June 21 and was located offshore Uruguay on Tuesday and heading north, while the 174,000-cbm Malaga Knutsen left the Peru LNG facility on June 29 and is expected to arrive in Rotterdam on July 24, their AIS data shows.

The final destinations of these vessels may change in the meantime.

If all of the shipments land at Gate, the LNG terminal would receive five cargoes shipped from the Peru LNG plant in a row.

Prior to these shipments, Gate received a cargo from Peru in September 2023 and has never received more than two cargoes shipped from the Peru LNG facility in a row, the Perupetro data shows.

LNG giant Shell holds 20 percent in Peru LNG and offtakes all the volumes. Shell also has long-term regasification capacity booked at the Gate facility owned by Gasunie and Vopak.

US-based Hunt Oil holds a 50 percent operating stake in the Pampa Melchorita LNG plant, while MidOcean Energy and Marubeni have 20 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

MidOcean Energy, the LNG unit of US-based energy investor EIG, completed in April its previously announced purchase of the 20 percent stake in Peru LNG from a unit of South Korean conglomerate SK.

The four Peru LNG shipments loaded onboard the LNG carriers in June equal about 292,526 tonnes.

These LNG cargoes compare to five cargoes (349,343 tonnes) in June last year and five cargoes (352,409 tonnes) in the prior month, while the plant shipped five cargoes in April, five LNG cargoes in March, four cargoes in February, and five cargoes in January.

The facility increased its exports last year, and it also expects to boost the number of shipments in 2024.

Peru LNG loaded 55 vessels in 2023, compared to 51 vessels in 2022.

The LNG terminal operator previously told LNG Prime it expects to load 60 vessels in 2024.

Source: Lngprime.com

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Glenfarne’s Texas LNG pens new offtake deal

Energy News Beat

Glenfarne Group’s Texas LNG has signed a new heads of agreement to supply liquefied natural gas from its planned 4 mtpa LNG export terminal in the port of Brownsville.

According to a statement by Glenfarne, Texas LNG entered into the deal with a “top-tier credit-rated market participant” for a long-term LNG free-on-board sale and purchase agreement for 0.5 mtpa of LNG.

Glefane did not reveal the name of the buyer.

Texas LNG is in “advanced negotiations with several potential offtakers” for the remaining volume of the project, it said.

The company expects to begin construction in 2024.

Brendan Duval, Glenfarne’s CEO and founder and co-president of Texas LNG said, “this agreement positions Texas LNG on the verge of full sell out, and we look forward to finalizing our offtake partnerships in the near future.”

Glenfarne recently requested more time from the US FERC to build and place in service its Texas LNG export project.

Texas LNG seeks an additional five-year extension to complete construction and place the project in service until November 22, 2029.

In April, Texas LNG executed heads of agreements with EQT Corporation anticipating a definitive 15-year LNG tolling agreement, and with Gunvor for a 20-year LNG tolling agreement for part of the project’s capacity.

These two deals total 2.5 mtpa of LNG.

Besides these deals, Texas LNG also previously selected Swiss engineering group ABB and US energy services firm Baker Hughes to supply equipment for its LNG project. It also awarded a tugboat contract to Gulf LNG Tugs of Texas.

These partnerships total nearly one billion dollars of investment into the project, according to the firm.

Source: Lngprime.com

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Refineries are BACK!

Energy News Beat

Daily Standup Top Stories

ADNOC Moves Ahead With Huge LNG Export Project in UAE

Abu Dhabi’s national oil company ADNOC has taken the final investment decision to move forward with the Ruwais LNG project, which will more than double the existing LNG production capacity in the United Arab Emirates. […]

U.S. LNG Shipped to Asia Is Still Cleaner Than Coal

US LNG shipped to Asia has a lower value-chain emissions footprint than coal-fired power generation, even over long distances. Uncertainties regarding methane emissions and variations in emissions intensity between different sources and types of LNG […]

Houston energy company to build largest new refinery in half a century

A Houston company will construct the largest new refinery in the last 50 years in Brownsville, Texas. Element Fuel Holdings LLC is spending between $3 and $4 billion on the project, which will produce more than 160,000 […]

Citi Says Oil Could Crash to Sub-$60 Level

Citi analysts have painted a bleak picture for the oil market, forecasting a significant price drop by 2025. According to their latest note, they anticipate a decline to $60 per barrel for Brent crude, marking […]

Matador Resources Company Announces Strategic Bolt-On Delaware Basin Acquisition

DALLAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jun. 12, 2024– Matador Resources Company (NYSE: MTDR) (“Matador” or the “Company”) today announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of Matador has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a subsidiary of Ameredev II Parent, LLC (“Ameredev”), including certain […]

Highlights of the Podcast

00:00 – Intro

01:29 – ADNOC Moves Ahead With Huge LNG Export Project in UAE

03:16 – U.S. LNG Shipped to Asia Is Still Cleaner Than Coal

05:15 – Houston energy company to build largest new refinery in half a century

06:39 – Citi Says Oil Could Crash to Sub-$60 Level

10:42 – Markets Update

13:45 – Matador Resources Company Announces Strategic Bolt-On Delaware Basin Acquisition

19:31 – Outro

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Follow Michael On LinkedIn and Twitter

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– Get in Contact With The Show –

Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

Michael Tanner: [00:00:14] What’s going on, everybody? Welcome into the Thursday, June 13th, 2024 edition of the Daily Energy News Beat stand up. Here are today’s top headlines. First up Adnoc moves ahead with huge LNG export project with the UAE. We will fly back to the United States then and cover U.S. LNG. That ship to Asia is still cleaner than cool coal. Who would have thought? I will stay in the U.S. Houston Energy Company to build largest new refinery in half a century. You love to see it. And bank Citibank now is saying oil could crash to sub 60 level. Interesting. Taking a little bit different approach than our friends over at Goldman Sachs. Stu, Then toss over to me. I will quickly cover what happened in the oil and gas markets. And really what we’re going to talk about is one fed deciding to keep interest rates the same that happened yesterday Wednesday afternoon. And then a pretty crazy EIA report, which we will cover in depth. And then we’ll wrap it up with Matador Resources going ahead and announcing a about a $1.9 billion all cash transition, to beef up some of their Delaware Basin acreage. It’s a pretty interesting deal. We will dive into all that and a bag of chips, guys. As always, I am Michael Tanner, joined by Stuart Turley. Where do you want to begin? [00:01:28][73.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:01:29] Hey, let’s start where everybody is over there. What Adnoc had, you know, see moves ahead with huge LNG export project in the UAE, Abu Dhabi’s national oil company. Add in. She’s taking the final investment decision to move forward with the rurales LNG project. It’s pretty darn cool. Listen to this, Michael. It will more than double the existing LNG production capacity in the UAE. Holy smokes Batman, listen to these numbers. They bought Adnoc, bought an 11.7 stake in phase one of next decade Rio Grand LNG export project in Texas. That is nuts. [00:02:13][44.2]

Michael Tanner: [00:02:13] Yeah. No, that’s down near Brownsville. It’s the first U.S. LNG project that’s quote unquote offering expected emissions reductions of more than 90% through an approved carbon capture and storage project. We know they’ve also signed a 20 year offtake LNG agreement with the Rio Grande LNG train for with next decade. So they’re also going to be the ones buying it as well. They’re going to own a little bit of the the export facility that they’re going to also be the one that’s that’s buying it. So love to get on that. I mean, these these, you know, these, these Middle Eastern countries are starting to make massive investments in LNG. They’re allowed to think 20, 30 years in the future because that’s the time frame in which they look at a little bit different than I think what happens here in the United States. But it’s pretty big. That project there over in UAE, stew, it’s going to be about $5.5 billion. And they awarded they also awarded a what they call an EPC contract, which is just all of the, engineering, procurement and construction stuff for nuts. [00:03:07][53.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:03:07] I’m very happy for them. Anytime we can see long term LNG contracts, I’m all excited. I think it’s fantastic. Yeah. [00:03:14][7.3]

Michael Tanner: [00:03:15] What’s next? [00:03:15][0.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:03:16] Let’s go to U.S. LNG shipped to Asia is still cleaner than coal. Michael, let’s go through these top bullet points and some numbers here. U.S LNG shipped to Asia has a new lower value chain emission footprint than other coal fired generation, even over longer distances. I was, I’m sure, reducing methane leakages in the LNG value chain can widen the emissions gap. Wow. Don’t pull my finger on the boat is what they just translates that to. Uncertainties regarding methane emissions and variations in emissions intensify between different sources and types of LNG and coal. Coal still not clean, I mean, but if you do it right, it can be. Greenhouse gas emissions from other energy sectors are high. And when you take a look at the lifecycle emission for LNG, for coal compared to coal generation, that little chart there in the center of it from right, everybody’s over there at Rystad. That’s pretty amazing. When you ship coal and then burn coal, it’s bad. [00:04:23][67.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:04:25] Yeah. I mean, this is kind of like a door, like if, if. [00:04:28][3.2]

Stuart Turley: [00:04:28] You some toy. [00:04:29][0.6]

Michael Tanner: [00:04:30] And so for all the people that are against LNG, aka the Biden administration with their LNG exports, this is the chapter you would be looking at because if the China can’t get their hands on LNG, well guess what, they’re going to keep burning coal because they don’t care. [00:04:42][12.1]

Stuart Turley: [00:04:42] Let’s help the planet and the planet needs LNG. [00:04:46][3.3]

Michael Tanner: [00:04:46] I’m I’m putting worried. The real for today’s episode has to be Stu. Let’s help the planet. You wouldn’t wouldn’t have thought I’d heard that. [00:04:53][6.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:04:54] No. You want to kill all the whales? I want to save the planet. I’m all about saving people and humanity. It’s pretty sad when the old guy in the room is the humanitarian. Okay, let’s go to the next one. [00:05:07][13.6]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:08] That I word I’d use to describe you. Stu is humanitarian. What’s next? [00:05:11][3.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:05:12] Human is what nobody calls. I mean a Houston energy company to build the largest refinery in half a century. Listen to this. It will process more than 160,000 barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from shale oil production. Pretty interesting. Element Fuel Holdings is spending between 3 and 4 billion on the project, which will produce more than 160,000 barrels per day of diesel jet fuel. And that’s pretty cool. [00:05:45][32.9]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:45] What’s also crazy is that Element Fuel Holdings is a relatively new company. They also say they intend to produce enough hydrogen and supply all the refineries power needs, which is going to, apparently, according to them, significantly reduce their emissions compared to the old refineries. Again, this is a Houston based firm. You know, I would have expected a bigger boy to get one of these. You know, this isn’t a shell. This isn’t an exxon. This isn’t a chevron. I mean, this is a smaller company. It’s good to see. I’m glad they went ahead and got this approved down there in Brownsville. But I it goes to show you how necessary new refineries are and how new you can make them, especially if you can produce enough hydrogen where you don’t have to. You can run itself to self-perpetuating refinery. [00:06:25][39.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:25] And and the fact that we got a new one since it 50 years that to me is out of the park huge. It’s pretty good to provide a thousand new jobs. We like jobs. [00:06:37][11.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:06:37] We love jobs. That’s the key. [00:06:38][1.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:06:39] All right, let’s go to Citibank. Here at Citi says oil could crash to sub 60 level. You know I don’t know how to price oil anymore. All I know is we got a trading desk now, and we’re getting requests for buying and selling crude, so might as well have a story about it here. Citi analysts have painted a bleak picture for the oil market. I disagree with them, but forecasting a significant price drop by 2025, according to the latest note, is $60 a barrel for Brant. I disagree, but then again, what do I know? [00:07:12][32.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:07:12] Well, I think I mean, let’s hear what they’re saying here. You know, their their their report and we’ve you dive into their report a little bit. They basically say the short term volatility may lead to some upside risks though that their longer term trend is bearish. You have to realize that 60% Brant as well. They’re not talking about WTI. You know I think what they’re doing is is they’re attempting to read the tea leaves on the opposite side and make the bearish case for an oversupplied market. It’s really the only way you can get to this number is is is really trying to figure out, okay. You know this is the I guess what am I trying to say. The way to make a bearish case has everything to do with we’re oversaturated on oil. I mean we’re about to see the EIA come out today. If you’re looking down that road, you know, and you’re looking at through that lens, I could see maybe how you get to this number. But that’s a pretty drastic cut I mean and and it would and maybe what they’re and maybe what they really do as an anticipating a Trump administration who’s going to who’s going to come in and encourage. And people are going to be more encouraged to drill. On the contrary, how more productive, how much, how much more money are you going to make at 55, $50 WTI drilling new wells than you are just producing your current production base at 75? Who knows. [00:08:23][71.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:08:24] Exactly. But also let me ask this. Contrastingly, as Citi’s outlook for copper is bullish with a projected price surge to 12,000 per ton. Are you watching copper prices, and do you think that that is a good number? Because if they’re calling for the bear in on oil, are they bullish on copper? And how does that number sound to you? [00:08:47][23.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:08:47] I ain’t I ain’t watching copper unfortunately. So I’m going to I’m going to have to take I’m going to have to read more research on that. I’m surely not going to take one bank’s perspective, but I find interesting that city is doing as you can. Everybody is bullish on oil. You’ve got we know where JP Morgan. We know where Goldman Sachs it’s cities kind of pasted the opposite one in. And again I’m not sure if this has much to do with where they see the US election going in terms of if. [00:09:11][23.6]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:11] You mentioned that starts. [00:09:12][0.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:12] Pumping a lot more oil. Well, price is only going to go down because the more supply, if we’re already oversupplied and you anticipate more oil coming online in a Trump administration versus a Biden administration last. [00:09:23][10.9]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:24] Time. [00:09:24][0.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:24] Last, maybe that’s what they’re thinking. [00:09:25][1.1]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:26] This time. President Trump had some really low oil prices, even though. [00:09:30][4.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:30] It was low even without Covid. [00:09:32][1.4]

Stuart Turley: [00:09:32] Oh, absolutely. [00:09:32][0.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:09:33] So why we’ll jump over here and cover a pretty crazy EIA crude oil inventory build. But before we do that guys, we got to pay the bills. As always, the news and analysis you just heard is brought to you by the world’s greatest website, EnergyNewsBeat.com the best place for all your energy and oil and gas news. Doing the team do a tremendous job making sure that website stays up to speed. Everything you need to know to be the tip of the spear when it comes to the energy and the oil and gas business. You going to hit the description below? Check out all of the links to the articles that we talked about. Timestamps to all the different segments. They may be plus or minus 30s. And then you can also, as you mentioned, check out our aforementioned trading desk. Which have a link in the bio there. If you’re looking to buy, sell or source LNG, crude oil, jet fuel, any type of you know, what a, you know, refined product you can you know we are are are definitely in the market for that. So go ahead and hit that description below. Whether it’s U.S. or international, whether you’re buying or selling. We’ll get you connected and get you get that marketplace going. So again hit that. That’s energynewsBeat.Com/trading desk school. Pretty interesting Day [00:10:41][68.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:10:42] Overall market you know our you know we’re recording this Wednesday afternoon. Things are sort of in a little bit of a tumble. Mainly due to the fact that the Federal Reserve came out today about or came out on Wednesday at about 2 p.m.. And, and Jerome Powell announced that there is no rate cut. They’re going to stick at that guidance of a two 25.25 to 5 and a half percentage point. They he revised it down as well. The number of rate cuts. Remember at the beginning there was an expectation, as stated from the fed that they were going to do three rate cuts. He’s now said we may only expect one. This comes after a a scathing letter. And I say that is massive sarcasm from Elizabeth Warren and two other Senate, U.S. senators talking about how we need to lower interest rates because that’s what the UK is doing. And I’m like, great, we should all we should definitely be doing what the UK is doing. Absolutely. We should be doing what the UK is doing. And if you can’t smell the sarcasm dripping off my breath, then I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll probably move closer to the mic. So that’s really what’s driving markets. They were up about one and a half percentage points today. currently or on Wednesday currently going, you know, currently sitting here about a quarter, about three quarters of a percentage point and tumbling Nasdaq just up a little bit over one percentage point but again tumbling their US two and ten year yields down 1.6 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points there. So US interest rates taking two and ten year yields take a nice tumble there. with the ten year actually doing worse than the two year dollar index down half a percentage point. Bitcoin fairly stable. It’s up about 9A1 percentage point 67,809. But as as expected it will probably continue to rise in face of of no rate cuts crude oil up about a half percentage point after a pretty tumultuous day relative to relative to where obviously a interest rate cut would have been bullish for oil. Not seeing and seeing a revised down of cuts doesn’t necessarily help. It’s sitting at 7829 and Brant Oil 8224. You know, really what we saw was an inventory build from the EIA, which was unexpected. As I mentioned. You know, the AP yesterday hit about a 2 million barrel draw. Well, today we saw about a 3.7 million barrel build from the EIA. And that’s compared with a build of about 1.2 of last week. And then as I mentioned the API crude oil inventory. Guess. And we also did see a gasoline inventory build of about 2.6 million barrels, with production averaging about 10.1 million barrels a day in distillates. We showed an inventory increase about 900,000, then production averaging about 5 million barrels. That’s compared with, 3.2 million barrel increase in this with 5.1 million barrels per day of production. I mean, pretty, pretty substantial build here. It’s really kind of there was an interlocking moment there when the report came where oil was sitting just above $79 and took a tumble all the way to, you know, the mid 70, you know, the mid 77, 50 have since climbed its way back up to where it’s sitting now, 7830 as we record this. So, you know, movers and shakers there, you know, watching to see how Citibank comes out later this year and justifies their, justifies their prediction depending on where things go from here. The last thing I want to talk about is Matador Resources. They come out today and announce a, quote, strategic bolt on acquisition in the Delaware Basin. If you’re reading the press release, pretty interesting, a deb acquisition, they go ahead and swoop up for an all cash payment of $1.9 billion. Meredith is a portfolio company of the aforementioned end cap resources. This is the second time that Matador has come in and scooped up an end cap. Back to private equity company, back in 20 early 2023, they went ahead and scooped up Advanced and Advanced Energy, which is another end cap company. So they you know, maybe there’s something to to watch out for there in terms of any time in cup spend and cap spins up a portfolio company, it’ll be interesting to see where Matador comes down line again. Matador. You know, their strongest position there is in the Delaware Basin, which is on the New Mexico. And, you know, the western New Mexico or the western side of the Permian Basin, which encompasses eastern New Mexico and the Horn of Texas. Right there. That’s their largest position they want. They go ahead and with this acquisition, add about 190,000 net acres. Or excuse me, that’s their total acreage count. Excuse me. And their amount of locations that they go ahead and purchase is somewhere around 321, which brings their total net locations up to about 2000. To give you guys an idea, you know, on the American EV asset, they go ahead and scoop them up. PDP ten on that is about 1.46 billion. So you can see a little bit of a. Premium there. You know, what’s interesting is that they expect the adjusted Ebit of those assets was about 425 to 475 as of strip pricing. That’s a 4.2 multiple on EBITDA relative to the purchase price, which is a little bit crazy, and I think has a lot to do with the fact that a lot to do with the fact that they feel like there’s some upside relative to the develop, you know, resources or some of the duds. You know, it’s also a 47,000, which basically works out to a 47,000 per flowing BOE metric, which, I mean, those are two really, really big numbers. And there’s a lot that’s interesting about this deal. It’s a very nice consolidated piece of acreage down there in the Delaware Basin. It’s very contiguous. It’s extremely helpful. It’s 33,000 acres total, 99% of that operated. It’s about 300. And I mentioned 71 net locations, all with about 86% working interest. Obviously you’re talking you know, you’re you’re wolf camp in your Bone Springs. It’s it’s you know, they talk a lot about, you know, their methodology of estimating inventory. We could get into that, you know, pretty crazy. There also is a a 19% stake in the pinion midstream which kind of gathering and treatment facility which increases your ability for gas take away. It’s one of the big problems out there in the Delaware Basin. So you know Jeff Crimo we’ve talked with him before on the oil on the Deal Spotlight podcast, specifically Schlumberger Champ X. He wrote a really nice LinkedIn post on this. I’d recommend everybody go check him out on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter, where he talked about the interesting nature of the fact of this all cash deal in a world where the last seven deals that we’ve evaluated have all been heavily stock based. And so the real, you know, and what he points out is generally when you buy with all cash, you’re issuing new debt. So the real question is where do they see, you know from matadors perspective where, you know, and that’s exactly what they’re going to do. They’re going to increase their their their debt. Now they claim they’re they claim with the increase in EBITDA, they’re actually going to lower their, you know, their leverage ratio. They’ve they’ve got it right up here. Where was it I was reading here. Preserve magic strong Balaji pro forma leverage. Expect to be 1.3 a closing and backed by one point at 1.0 by the middle of 2025. So what they’re saying is, yes, we’re increasing our debt, but our leverage is going to stay the same because of the increase in EBITDA relative to these, you know, relative to these assets. I mean, if you’re adding revenue to your business, but you’re adding debt, it can be net neutral from a debt ratio standpoint, you just better hope there’s enough revenue. And that’s always the key. It’s always the key. It’s not is there revenue. It’s is there enough revenue to cover that leverage? It does look like they believe with by drilling those new locations and hopefully some net debt reductions, they can get that leverage back below what they claim their target is at a 1.0. But, you know, I had actually heard rumors of this deal a couple of weeks ago. You know, you know, Matador, as I mentioned, loves and cap stuff. So I wouldn’t be surprised if this same management team now breaks off, goes buys another six us, you know, consolidated acreage position out there in Delaware Basin this season. Two years. They can’t flip to Matador. It seems like you know end cap and Matador seem to have a great relationship going on there specifically from a value add. I think the interesting part we’ll see a year from now, we’re going to be able to have two full years of the advanced energy deal, and another and a full year and a full year with the Amara, and it’ll be interesting to see kind of how those have shaped out for them. But I think there’s there’s a clear strategy here for both Matador and Cap. [00:18:40][478.5]

Stuart Turley: [00:18:41] That’s right. Good numbers, good management, good numbers. [00:18:43][2.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:18:43] Yeah we like I matadors right down the street here for me right here in the Galleria here in Dallas. But they also you know, they’ve proven they’re one of the few companies that are still led by their CEO founder, chairman. It’s one of the few dictatorships that’s working in my opinion. [00:18:57][13.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:18:57] Well, like my household. Yeah. [00:18:59][1.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:18:59] Well. Well, yeah. Okay. I’ll leave it at that. We love you. Have you working on a. [00:19:04][4.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:04] Bunch a Berkshire a picking up another 2.57 million more shares, 2.57 million more shares from Occidental. Wow. [00:19:13][9.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:13] Hey, they’re eventually own. And at some point what Berkshire Oil. Is that what they’re going to rebrand to? [00:19:18][4.2]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:18] Yeah, I think so. It’s what they own 28.3%. [00:19:19][1.5]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:21] Now once Warren just kind of put himself as CEO. [00:19:24][3.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:25] I don’t know, maybe he’s getting ready to like do that. He’s going to retire from Berkshire and go run oxy. [00:19:30][5.4]

Michael Tanner: [00:19:31] Yeah I doubt that. So all right guys. Well with that we’ll let you get out of here. Finish up your Thursday. We will not be who we running tomorrow before we let him go. Who we running on Friday. The podcast. [00:19:41][10.1]

Stuart Turley: [00:19:42] We got four podcast getting ready to rumble out and let me get the list here real quick. We’ve got some good ones here. It figures it’s the system is a little slow here. We have coming around the corner. Ronald Stein is one of them. We have Troy Eckert finally out of production. Ronald Stein, we have Adam Goodman has just went out last week, but the transcript is going to be done. And then we have Prince Tiana Ford going out next week. Lots of good stuff. That was a fun one. [00:20:13][31.8]

Michael Tanner: [00:20:14] Yeah. No. Absolutely. Everybody check that out. You can hear the weekly recap on Friday, and then we will be back in the chair on Monday for you guys. We appreciate you sticking with us. Hope you guys have a great weekend. Don’t die of the heat. Best of you here in Texas. Watch out for air court. We know they’re coming for you. Stay cool, stay safe. And we will see you guys on Monday. [00:20:14][0.0][1178.1]

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